A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of appropriate sections of this document or disclosure as it appears in the US Patent and Trademark Office file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to database management systems. More particularly, the present disclosure is directed to systems and methods for information storage, retrieval and delivery using a relational database operable with a computer network such as the Internet and the associated World Wide Web (WWW).
2. Description of Related Art
Current computer technology allows information, for example, documents, records, etc., to be distributed electronically. Electronic distribution is generally cost effective when compared with conventional hard copy distribution methods. Moreover, electronic distribution generally permits faster transmission of information to users interested in such information. Global computer networks, such as the Internet, enable information to be distributed to a wide range of people at locations around the world. One of the many advantages of the Internet, particularly the World Wide Web (WWW or the xe2x80x9cWebxe2x80x9d), is that the communication protocols used for transmitting documents and other information are non-proprietary, thereby enabling end users to access and use the Internet without the need for highly customized hardware or software.
One of the areas where information production and distribution has assumed an overwhelming importance is the legal profession, especially the litigation practice. It is well-known that in this area there is a tremendous need for systems where a user, typically a legal professional (e.g., an attorney), can inexpensively access, exchange and store documents critical to various aspects of litigation research. Moreover, such user interaction must be secure and reliable.
Of valuable consideration in litigation research, often, is whether there are other legal professionals who might have experience in a particular aspect of a litigation matter in which a user is currently interested and if there exists any documents relating to that matter provided by the legal professional. Such documents may typically comprise depositions, briefs, pleadings, seminar papers, etc. Another consideration, certainly, is whether the user can quickly access and, download relevant documents, with or without any fees associated therewith.
A further consideration in litigation research frequently relates to the arena of expert witnesses. Clearly, it would be highly useful for legal professionals if they could inexpensively access relevant information about a particular expert who has testified in the area that is related to the matter of interest. Another useful feature would be where a party (that is, a legal professional or an entity that contributed or provided a document in a common electronic exchange) possesses the capability to know if other legal professionals have accessed its document.
Often, an information provider operating an electronic exchange of information wishes to provide information to users on a controlled basis. For example, the provider may want to provide information only to those users who have paid a fee or completed a registration process. Also, the provider may want to restrict access to certain types of information to certain classes of users. Additionally, the information provider or the users may require that the format of the information provided to one user be different from the format of the same information provided to another user or class of users.
It can be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art that an electronic exchange of information may be advantageously provided, especially with particular relevance to the subject matter set forth herein above, using the Internet and a centralized database coupled therewith. Whereas there has been a fast growing demand for Internet/Web access to databases, there are no extant systems that provide the unique and useful features of the present invention as described herein below.
To alleviate the above description problems with existing systems and other problems recognized by those skilled in the art, an exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a computerized method and a system for data management. In a particular exemplary embodiment, the computerized method for data management includes the steps of: receiving a first query from a first user; receiving a first user identity indicator; storing the first query and the first user identity indicator in a first database; receiving a second query from a second user, the second query including at least a portion of the first query; searching the first database according to the second query; and responsive to searching the first database, returning the first query and the first user identity indicator.
In another embodiment, the computerized method can perform the steps of receiving a document from a third user; receiving a third user identity indicator; and storing the document in association with the third user identity indicator.
In yet another embodiment, the method can perform the steps of presenting the first query to a second database, the second database including the document; and providing the document to the first user responsive to the first query corresponding to the document.
Another exemplary embodiment can perform steps of adjusting an indicator value associated with the third user, whereby the indicator value indicates that the document received from the third user has been provided to the first user.
Moreover, one exemplary embodiment can include the step of calculating a royalty based upon the indicator value associated with the third user. In should be noted, however, the present invention can include any combination of the above features or any other features as described herein.